In a modern commercial aircraft, a flight crew makes flight plan entries and modifications through a Flight Management System (FMS). The FMS receives inputs related to the desired destination, and the FMS builds a flight plan based on the inputs. The flight plan typically includes a plurality of legs that correspond to straight segments to be flown by the aircraft. The flight plan includes single curve transitions between the legs. At times, the transition between two or more legs results in the FMS displaying a flight plan that is not physically flyable by the aircraft, particularly at increased speeds. When confronted with these unflyable transitions between legs, the aircraft flies a path that is different from the path displayed by the FMS. The aircraft then corrects itself and returns to the flight plan. This can result in a level of uncertainty for the pilot since the aircraft has periods in which the aircraft may not be flying according to the displayed and predetermined flight path.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved system and method for generating and displaying flight plans that have flyable paths for the aircraft, particularly flight plans with flyable transitions between two or more legs.
Desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.